Categories: Entertainment

Book reviews: This Mournable Body & Jan the Journal

This Mournable Body

Fiction

Author: Tsitsi Dangarembga
Publisher: Graywolf Press
ISBN: 978-1-55597-812-9
Price: R223

Obstacles facing Zim women

About 30 years after her acclaimed international debut with Nervous Conditions, Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga returns with a sequel. In

This Mournable Body, the lead character is anxious about her prospects after leaving a stagnant job, and she finds herself living in a run-down youth hostel in downtown Harare. For reasons that include her grim financial prospects, she moves to a widow’s boarding house and finds work as a biology teacher.

Her sequel is a searing novel about the obstacles facing women in Zimbabwe.

Jan the Journal Volume 2

Children’s literature

Price: R320
Publisher: @home stores

A collector‘s item

Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen has partnered with @home and will be donning shelves with the iconic chef’s second edition of his book, JAN the Journal Volume 2 in December.

Much like his initial publication JAN the Journal, and his restaurant JAN in France, the second volume celebrates South Africa’s food, flavours and people, while also exploring some of his favourite places in Europe.

Through a combination of beautiful recipes, stories and photographs, Van der Westhuizen and his team continue their epicurean journey with his second issue.

With recipes inspired by a wide variety of cuisine – from traditional feasts to classic and down-to-earth South African fare – the stories in the second edition are equally diverse. In this issue, the book begins with an indulgent feast in a villa on the French Riviera that was once a retreat for artists like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

As an ode to his late grandmother Maria, the book reiterates his special relationship with her and the impact she had on his development and passion as a chef.

JAN the Journal Volume 2 is undoubtedly a collector’s item.

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